Bowling ball



Patented May 2, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT oF icE BOWLING BALL Herman S. Cahen, University Heights, Ohio Application February 12, 1943, Serial No. 475,623

3 Claims.

This invention relates to the art of bowling balls.

Formerly a bowling ball was provided with two cylindrical holes, one for the thumb and the other for the second finger. Then later, because of difiiculty in holding the weight of the ball and also in order to obtain better control over the delivery of the ball, there came into quite general use a ball with three cylindrical holes, one for the thumb and the other two for the second and third fingers. Also, it has been proposed to curve the finger-gripping surfaces of the thumb and finger holes, as disclosed in the U. S. Patent No. 1,897,714 of February 14, 1933, to Ryder.

As is well known, it is generally accepted practice for a right-hand bowler to hook the ball, that is towards the left; and, for this purpose, the ball is delivered from the hand of the user in such manner as to develop this desired hook. This manner of delivery involves a turning of the hand as the ball is being delivered. It is to be understood that, in referring to the use of. a hook, I have in mind a right-hand bowler; whereas, in the case of a left-hand bowler, a "slice should be used, as is well known.

Now, in order to facilitate such delivery of the ball for the development of a hook and also to improve the aim, as well as to permit release of the ball from the two fingers simultaneously and in a smooth manner, it has been proposed to merge the two holes for the second and third fingers into a single hole of oblong cross-section and with the major axis of its surface opening inclined laterally away from the thumb hole. In fact, patents have been granted upon this type of bowling ball although none of them has been adopted to any extent whatever, so far as I am aware.

It might be here explained that theadvantage of, the two-finger hole resides in the close arrangement of the two fingers, which means better aim. But, as will be readily understood, the difiiculty of gripping and holding the ball and in exercising proper control over its delivery is rather agg'ravated by the inclined arrangement of the oblong hole for the two fingers since there is the danger of the fingers sliding down such-inclined surface at the critical moment. As is well known among experienced bowlers, the secret of successful bowling lies in the proper co-ordination at the critical moment, which involves correct aim as well as complete control throughout the entire swing. And

the curving of the inner gripping surface of the hole, as above referred to, will not alone preclude the danger of the fingers slipping laterally down the inclined two-finger hole.

It is therefore an object of this invention to devise a combined means for gripping and dependably holding a bowling ball in the case of an inclined oblong form of two-finger hole above mentioned.

My present invention contemplates also the merging of this particular improved feature with that of having the inner gripping surface of a uni-directional curved form, so as to thereby preclude the danger of the fingers slipping at all in any direction, while at the same time improving the combined factors of aim and control.

Other objects will appear from the following description and claims when .considered together with the accompanying drawing.

Fig. 1 illustrates in a general way the manner of gripping a bowling ball of the type embodying my present invention;

Fig. 2 shows my improved bowling ball in elevation; and

Fig. 3 is a view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

It is to be understood that the present form of disclosure is merely for the purpose of illustration and that there might be devised various modifications without departing from the spirit of my invention as herein set forth and claimed.

In the present disclosure, I have shown a bowling ball B, which may be made of any suitable material and which has a thumb hole I and a hole 2 for the second and third fingers. It will be observed that the hole 2 is of substantially oblong form in cross-section and that its major axis at its surface opening is inclined laterally away from the hole i.

Now, I have divided the inner gripping surface of the hole 2 into two grooves or separate portions 2a and 2b for the two individual fingers. these two grooves being separated by the rib 20. This rib will prevent the one finger from accidentally sliding down the inclination of the oblong hole; in fact, each of the two fingers is thus provided with its own individual engaging surface area without the engagement of either of them being endangered by slipping, while at the same time there is retained the benefit of the inclination of the two-finger hole and also the benefit of improved aim .by having the two fingers close together. It is this last-mentioned consideration that has dictated the comparatively slight lateral extent of the rib to. In this way, there are obtained all the benefits of the inclined two-finger hole, so far as the factor of aim is concerned, but without the objection which has made other balls of this same general type impractical; and this feature affords also the advantage of two separate finger holes, with regard to the security against lateral slipping of the fingers, but without the disadvantage of the usual spacing of the two fingers.

As a still further improvement, I have given the inner finger-engaging surfacev of each hole a convex curvature inthe general direction of the depth of the hole in each instance and only in that direction. That is to say, there'will be convex curvature or a convex component only in the general direction of engagement by the finger as it extends along the inside of the hole, in each instance; this being especially advantageous in the two-finger hole as the unidirectional character of this curvature has a special co-operation with the rib 2c in preventing the lateral slipping of the fingers down the surface of the inclined two-finger hole 2. This curvature is of a smooth continuous form so as to provide a suitable surface for rippin and pp rting engagement in a comfortable and dependable manner and to permit smooth release and delivery of the ball. This curvature may extend the full depth of the hole, if so desired, but at leastthroughout the region corresponding to the end portion of the finger or thumb, the exact degree of curvature being a matter of choice and experimentation,

due regard to be given to the height of the rib 2c. M

the following claims, my invention resides in the feature of having the multiple-finger hole divided into individual portions in immediate proximity to each other so as to prevent lateral slipping of the fingers down the inclined surface and yet without disturbing the factor of aim; and also in the combination of this feature with the provision of unidirectional convex gripping surface so as to thereby afford a combined finger-positioning eiiiciency in all directions. Thus the resultant advantage of my invention consists in an improvement with respect to the combined factors of aim and control which are of course most essential to successful bowling.

What I claim is:

1. A bowling ball having a thumb hole and a unitary multiple-finger hole of generally oblong form in cross-section, said multiple-finger hole being arranged with the major axis of its surface opening inclined laterally away from the thumb hole, and the inner gripping surface of said multi-ple-flnger hole being provided with a rib extending lengthwise thereof and dividing the same into immediately adjacent individual finger-receiving portions so as to prevent lateral slipping along the inclined surface thereof and at the same time permit the fingers to be positioned in close proximity to each other for eiiicient aiming.

2. A bowling ball having a thumb hole and a unitary multiple-finger hole of generally oblong form in cross-section, said multiple-finger hole being arranged with the major axis of its surface opening inclined laterally away from the thumb hole, the inner gripping surface of said multipleflnger hole being provided with a rib extending lengthwise thereof and dividing the same into immediately adjacent individual finger-receiving portions so as to prevent lateral slipping along the inclined surface thereof and at the same time permit the fingers to be positioned in close proximity to each other for eflicient aim, and each of said individual portions having its inner gripping surface formed with a convex component in only the general direction of the depth of the hole, said convex component extending throughout at least the inner-most part of the gripping surface, thereby affording a combined finger-positioning efllciency in all direcions.

3. A bowling ball having a thumb hole and a unitary multiple-finger hole of generally oblong form in cross-section, said multiple-finger hole being arranged with the major axis of its surface opening inclined laterally away from the thumb hole, the inner gripping surface of said multiplefinger hole being provided with a rib extending lengthwise thereof and dividing the same into immediately adjacent individual finger-receiving portions so as to prevent lateral slipping along the inclined surface thereof and at the same time permit the fingers to be positioned in close proximity to each other for eflicient aiming, and the inner gripping surface of each of said individual portions and of said thumb hole being formed with a convex component in only the general direction of the depth of the hole in each instance, said convex component extending throughout at least the inner-most part of the gripping surface in each instance, thereby affording a combined assurance against slipping of the grip upon the ball in any direction.

\ HERMAN S. CAHEN. 

